Aftek picks up 49% stake in German Co

BANGALORE: Aftek Infosys Limited has acquired 49 percent stake in the Munich-based Arexera Information Technologies GmbH. Aftek also retains the right to acquire the entire 100 percent equity in Arexera based on certain predetermined milestones over the next 3-4 years.

Ranjit Dhuru, chairman and managing director of Aftek said: "This acquisition marks a major milestone in Aftek’s scheme of things; it is in line with our objective of emerging in the global knowledge management space. Besides facilitating expansion of market in Europe for our products business, it (the acquisition) would also help in bagging sizeable service contracts from Arexera’s big ticket clients".

Arexera’s managing director, Hermann Havermann said: "The association will prove to be mutually beneficial for both the companies; we expect Aftek to help take our products beyond the EU boundaries. This strategic investment is trend-setting in the Indo-German relationship; I wouldn’t know of another example of such an investment made by an Indian software company in Germany so far".

Founded in 1998, originally a part of a Swiss conglomerate, Arexera has expertise in the development of innovative technologies and complex solutions in the fields of Knowledge Management, Data Compression and Content Management. It has a strong product portfolio comprising of six independent products catering to the Knowledge Management space.

The German company’s list of clients include, BMW, Axel Springer Publishing, KPMG Beiten Burkhardt GmbH, T-online and Datev. Aftek recently made a GDR issue to fund its acquisitions and expansion plans. The Company’s GDRs are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. In the domestic market the Company’s stock is listed on the BSE, NSE, Pune and Ahmedabad stock exchanges.